Technology has become a part of the very fabric of society today. Technology's infiltration into business, industries, the medical field, and entertainment has accounted for huge advances. However, in the field of education the impact technology has had is regarded as less impressive. Muller, Wood, Wiloughby, Ross, and Specht (2008) stated "…it is critical to understand teachers' perspectives regarding computer integration in the classrooms" (p.1523). With the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-382) the integration of technology in schools should be strongly evident. Currently, twenty years after the commitment to develop technologically literate students, technology integration should be well defined, seamless in its usefulness within the learning environment, a part of the very fabric of the educational setting, and consist of a proven track record verifying the positive results for utilization in student learning and achievements. However, a review of the relevant literature revealed the goal has not been achieved and the same issues related to the integration of technology into education are still being discussed, researched, and questioned today as they were in its infancy (Anthony, 2011; Bauer & Kenton, 2005; Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordin, & Means, 2000). Allowing teachers to voice what integration meant to them in both practice and definition and the barriers encountered, could shed light on the underutilization of use discovered in literature. New insights provided from teachers could also be utilized by administration and policymakers towards the development of new policies and mandates. Taking a qualitative, investigative approach, two individual and two focus group (n=6, n=8) interviews from four elementary schools in Brevard County were conducted which focused on understanding the practices and experiences of teachers. Results found time, support structures provided by administration, and specific professional development and training's were challenges that hampered successful implementation.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between on-site Technology Facilitators, access to technology, technology usage, and technology skill levels of teachers at the eleven C?R?E?A?T?E for Mississippi Partner Schools in the 2003-2004 school year. Four hundred eighteen certified teachers, seven Technology Facilitators, and two Technology Aides participated in the C?R?E?A?T?E for Mississippi project in this time frame in the Partner Schools. Mean difference scores relative to teachers? beginner technology skills and advanced technology skills showed greater gains in Partner Schools that had some level of on-site support than Partner Schools that did not have on-site support. Moreover, schools that had on-site support had greater technology usage rates than the Partner Schools that did not have an on-site support person. Level of on-site support and access to technology, along with other variables of interest, were regressed on teachers? beginner technology skill levels, advanced technology skill levels, and technology usage depicted in the form of student contact hours. The level of on-site support and access to technology explained most of the variance on teachers? beginner and advanced technology skill levels. However, the interaction between level of on-site support and access to technology explained most of the variance on technology usage when loaded into the hierarchical multiple linear regression model further supporting researchers? claims that these two variables are first-order barriers to technology-integration.

In this study, three aspects of technology integration in English Language Teaching within the context of private universities in Ankara, Turkey were investigated. Firstly, preservice and in-service teachers&amp / #8217 / computer usage frequencies/types, computer competence levels, perceived barriers to technology integration and attitudes toward computers were explored. Then, factors (age, gender, work experience, institutional factors being preservice or in-service) that might potentially affect the findings of the first research question were examined. Finally, the educational value preservice and in-service teachers assigned to technology usage in their language teaching practices and their ideas on effective technology integration were scrutinized. In order to reach aforementioned goals, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The institutions sampled in this study were all private universities, the infrastructure of which varied drastically. A total of 182 questionnaires collected from the teachers (in-service N=120, preservice N=62), as well as eight in-service and four preservice teachers were interviewed. The findings indicated that teachers used computers at their schools at limited frequency. It was also found that they indicated high levels of instructional computer usage outside the school and technology competence. It was also seen that age, gender and the institutions the teachers worked at affected their technology usage and competence levels. As for the educational value assigned to technology usage in their language teaching, the teachers indicated that technology would help make their lessons more student centered. However, the teachers mainly mentioned using technology as teacher tools rather student tools which help foster higher order thinking skills and learner autonomy. Keeping the usage statistics in mind, it was concluded that the schools, even though all of them were private, lacked computer infrastructure to the point that the teachers had difficulty even to use computers for their personal purposes. It was also concluded that the schools in Turkey were still at the stage of fighting with first-order barriers, even at private institutions, indicating that a vision towards technology integration lacks. As for the educational value assigned to computer usage in ELT, it was concluded that institutional barriers were more of a concern for the teachers as they did not have a chance to delve into actual instructional usage and the ICT courses at college were not preparing the teachers for effective technology integration due to lack of proper training activities.